Thursday

Tea Ceremony

Tea ceremony - the ritual of sharing tea.Established in the Middle Ages in Japan and it is now cultivated in this country.Initially, the tea ceremony came as a form of meditation practice, Buddhist monks, and then it became an integral part of Japanese culture, closely associated with many other cultural phenomena.

Teahouse

One of the first tea-masters had Dzeo Takeno (1502-1555).It was he who started to use a special ceremony for the building - the tea house (tyasitsu), which, in accordance with the principle of "Wabi" - the desire for simplicity and naturalness, was given a kind of peasant houses with thatched roofs.Takeno coined in the ceremony ceramics rough work.Student Dzeo Takeno, an outstanding master of the tea ceremony, Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591), completed a tea house and put into practice the creation of the garden and a stone path leading through the garden to the house.

Japanese tea ceremony was modeled on the Chinese Sung tea ceremony, Japanese monks. The original form of the ritual was introduced monk Dayo (1236-1308).Dayo I have learned first tea master - and the monks.A century later, the priest Ikkyu Sodzyun (1394-1481), abbot of the temple complex Daytokudzi in Kyoto, the tea ceremony taught his pupil Murata juku (Shuko).The latter has developed and transformed the tea ceremony, and taught her the holding of the shogun Ashikaga Psimatsu, giving thus the tradition of a start in life.

According to various sources, the beginning of the use of tea in Japan belongs to the VII-VIII centuries of our era.Tea was introduced to Japan from the mainland.It is believed that he brought Buddhist monks, for whom the tea was a special drink - drank it during meditation and brought to the Buddha.

Sen-no Rikyu formalized etiquette of the ceremony, the sequence of actions of the participants and even determine what the conversation should be at what time the ceremony to create a mood of tranquility, away from the concerns and aspirations for truth and beauty.Innovations made by Rikyu, given new meaning to "sabi" - the principle of elegance and beauty, as embodied in the tea ceremony.

By the XIII century, drinking tea has become commonplace in the samurai class.Over time, the monasteries in an aristocratic environment entered the practice of "tea-tournaments" - gatherings at which taste great number of varieties of tea and the participants were required to taste tea to determine its grade and origin.In the simple people among the peasants and townspeople also became a tradition of tea drinking, but held it is much more modest than that of the nobility, and is an easy meeting for the joint use of beverage in a friendly chat.

The situation was directed at the ceremony to show no clear, bright, striking, and the hidden beauty, lurking in the simple things, pale colors and soft sounds.

The most important part of the ceremony - preparing and drinking thick powdered green tea.

Before the ceremony, guests gathered together in one room.Here they served hot water in small cups.The purpose of this stage - to give the guests a general mood, associated with the expectation of the upcoming ceremony as an important and enjoyable activities, meetings with the beautiful.Then the guests go through the garden to the tea house.Contemplating the plants and stones of the garden, guests are set to focus minds and free from all vain.At the end of the track, in front of a tea house, visitors are welcomed by the host.After a cautious mutual greeting guests approaching located immediately stone shaft and perform ritual ablutions.After washing the guests are in the tea house and settle there.Passing through the low and narrow entrance symbolizes the final output abroad everyday world, hiding from all that is happening outside.The disadvantage of the entrance and the need to bend down low, entering the tea house, symbolizing the equality of participants ceremony - had to bow to everyone, regardless of the nobility, wealth, fame and social status.In accordance with the custom of traditional Japanese house, entering the teahouse, the guests leave shoes at the door.

Utensils used during tea ceremonies, shall be a single ensemble that does not necessarily means a sameness, but it requires that things fit together, and none of them did not stand out sharply from the general collection.For the ceremony needed to store the box of tea pot or kettle in which water is boiled, the overall bowl for sharing drinking tea bowls for each guest, tea spoon for sands and stirrer, which stirs the tea master during cooking.All items must be simple, modest, kind and venerable age, reflected in their form.

By the XVI century, the tea ceremony from a simple shared tea has become a mini-play, which is generally regarded as a form of spiritual practice, and in which every detail, every object, every act had a symbolic meaning.The Japanese say that "tea ceremony - the art of translating the Void grace and goodness of Peace."